Nurse clinician vs staff nurse

The differences between nurse clinicians and staff nurses can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a nurse clinician and a staff nurse. Additionally, a staff nurse has an average salary of $68,342, which is higher than the $65,159 average annual salary of a nurse clinician.

The top three skills for a nurse clinician include patients, patient education and CPR. The most important skills for a staff nurse are patients, BLS, and CPR.

Nurse clinician vs staff nurse overview

	Nurse Clinician	Staff Nurse
Yearly salary	$65,159	$68,342
Hourly rate	$31.33	$32.86
Growth rate	6%	6%
Number of jobs	596,073	699,636
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 59%	Bachelor's Degree, 44%
Average age	44	44
Years of experience	2	2

What does a nurse clinician do?

A nurse clinician is a health expert who provides care and assistance to patients in hospitals, clinics, or similar establishments. Among their responsibilities include preparing equipment and documents, administering medication, monitoring the patient's condition, maintaining charts, and regularly reporting to physicians. In some establishments, they may also perform administrative support tasks such as answering calls and correspondence, preparing and processing documents, and organizing records. Moreover, a nurse clinician must maintain an active communication line with fellow medical staff to provide optimal services to patients.

What does a staff nurse do?

Staff nurses are registered nurses who are usually assigned to work in a care home, a company, or in a clinical setting. They advise the physical assessments of patients, employees, and residents. They also handle the checking of vital signs, providing basic medical procedures, giving first aid, and, if possible, providing over the counter medication. Staff nurses provide medical attention to the people in their place of assignment. They help pave the path to their patients' full recovery. Staff nurses are expected to be patient and have good interpersonal skills.

Nurse clinician vs staff nurse salary

Nurse clinicians and staff nurses have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Nurse Clinician	Staff Nurse
Average salary	$65,159	$68,342
Salary range	Between $48,000 And $88,000	Between $42,000 And $109,000
Highest paying City	New York, NY	Burlingame, CA
Highest paying state	New York	California
Best paying company	Healthpoint	Washington Hospital Healthcare System
Best paying industry	Education	Health Care

Differences between nurse clinician and staff nurse education

There are a few differences between a nurse clinician and a staff nurse in terms of educational background:

	Nurse Clinician	Staff Nurse
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 59%	Bachelor's Degree, 44%
Most common major	Nursing	Nursing
Most common college	Duke University	Duke University

Nurse clinician vs staff nurse demographics

Here are the differences between nurse clinicians' and staff nurses' demographics:

	Nurse Clinician	Staff Nurse
Average age	44	44
Gender ratio	Male, 10.9% Female, 89.1%	Male, 12.3% Female, 87.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 12.1% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 8.8% Asian, 9.6% White, 64.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%	Black or African American, 11.8% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 8.8% Asian, 8.9% White, 65.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage	9%	9%

Differences between nurse clinician and staff nurse duties and responsibilities

Nurse clinician example responsibilities.

Manage patient pain relief and sedation by providing pharmacological and non-pharmacological intervention, monitor patient response and record care plans accordingly.
Provide high level nursing care for ER step down and ICU patients prior to transfer to critical care units.
Instruct ACLS and BLS classes.
Specialize care for telemetry and orthopedic patients.
Provide specialized nursing care to ICU medical cardiac patient populations.
Provide education regarding care of surgical patients as part of orientation to orienting telemetry nurses.

Staff nurse example responsibilities.

Manage and further help stabilize elective and urgent care surgical patients in their post-operative/post PACU admission to the floor.
Accomplish extensive critical care course with EKG interpretation and yearly critical care medication exam.
Manage patient pain relief and sedation by providing pharmacological and non-pharmacological intervention, monitor patient response and record care plans accordingly.
Participate in discharge planning including teaching family members and patients wind care and medication administration process after discharge.
Provide direct nursing care to patients in a variety of settings with an emphasis in critical care and PACU settings.
Prepare patients for surgery and endoscopy procedures including initiating intravenous lines, physical assessments and administering medications.

Nurse clinician vs staff nurse skills

Common nurse clinician skills

Patients, 33%
Patient Education, 5%
CPR, 5%
Emergency Situations, 5%
Patient Outcomes, 3%
Educational Programs, 3%

Common staff nurse skills

Patients, 28%
BLS, 9%
CPR, 6%
Acls, 5%
Acute Care, 4%
Direct Patient Care, 3%

Nurse Clinician vs. similar jobs

Nurse Clinician related careers

Nurse Clinician related jobs

What similar roles do

Zippia Careers
Healthcare Practitioner and Technical Industry
Nurse Clinician
Nurse Clinician vs Staff Nurse

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse healthcare practitioner and technical jobs